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Saturday, February 03, 2007

A craving satisfied...

Yesterday when I was going through the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book to pick out a biscuit recipe, I came across a cookie recipe that sounded too good to pass on. I was thinking of making them later in the week, but Jeff said he wanted some cookies for a snack today... how could I say no?

This recipe, Cranberry-Apricot Chocolate Chews, is like a basic chocolate chip cookie bulging with a few fun additions to transform them into a tangy and quite chewy treat. As you glance through the ingredient list, there may be one that sticks out - what's the orange juice doing in there... right? Some people can detect a bitter taste when using all whole-wheat flours in baked goods, so a small amount of orange juice works to mask that tannic flavor without giving the item any orange flavor. The mix-ins for this cookie are bittersweet chocolate chunks, dried cranberries, dried apricots (tangy!) and chopped cashews. Feel free to use whatever combination of nuts and dried fruit that float your boat, but just make sure to use the same measurements. While the cranberries and apricots certainly add to the chewy texture, the brown sugar in the dough also gives the cookie itself a nice chew.

I loved the saltiness the cashews added, but that flavor may not be for everyone - pecans, walnuts or almonds would be excellent substitutions. Jeff was happily surprised when I told him that they are whole grain - he could not taste the difference and decided it meant he could justify a couple more cookies! I will typically refrigerate all-butter cookie dough whether the recipe calls for it or not to help with spreading issues, but I noticed I had to flatten the cold dough a bit to get the cookies to spread out a little more. You could probably skip that step in my instructions and bake right after mixing, if desired.